Acculturation, body image, and eating behaviours in Muslim-Australian women.
The relationship between western acculturation, body dissatisfaction, and eating behaviours was examined in a sample of 101 Muslim-Australian women between 18 and 44 years of age (M=27.3, SD=7.5). A questionnaire was completed containing measures of cultural identification (heritage and mainstream), body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (dietary control, bingeing and purging), internalization of the thin ideal, and self-esteem. A series of path analyses identified significant positive relationships between mainstream identification and the measures of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating that were mediated by thin-ideal internalization. Path analyses also identified significant negative relationships between heritage identification and the measures of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating that were mediated by self-esteem. These results are indicative of the potential risks to body image incurred by women who adopt Western values, and of the benefits in retaining heritage cultural values that promote a positive self image.
Mussap
Alexander J
AJ
School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Melbourne 3125, Australia. Electronic address: mussap@deakin.edu.au.
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult